New prep football district assignments announced

By ALLYUS FRITZ/Ledger sports editor | Jan 24, 2014

A trip to Davenport is in the Fairfield football team’s near future.

New districts were assigned Thursday for Iowa high schools. The Trojans were placed in Class 3A District 5. Fairfield’s usual combatants, Washington, Mt. Pleasant, Fort Madison and Keokuk, remain with Fairfield. Williamsburg and Centerville are out, while Davenport Assumption and Clear Creek-Amana are in.

This means that the Trojans will face these six teams in 2014 and 2015. After two seasons with these new districts, the districts will be changed again. Districts are assigned based on enrollment numbers and location.

So what does this mean for the Trojans? Davenport Assumption, a private school powerhouse that was in Class 4A last season (the largest class), is now a team that Fairfield will have to tangle with. The Knights went 9-2 last season and were upset by Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the second round of the playoffs.

“Davenport Assumption is a traditional powerhouse at the 4A level so them dropping down to 3A would probably make them the preseason district favorite on paper,” Fairfield offensive coordinator Matt Schenck said. “The only negative is that the trip to Davenport will be a long trip but other than that we see a lot of positives with the new district and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

Clear Creek-Amana has gone 4-5 the last two seasons after finishing 0-9 three seasons ago. The Clippers, located in Tiffin, were in Class 3A District 6 last season.

“It is our hope as coaches that once our kids see the depth and quality of the district we will play in for the next two years that they will have a little extra motivation to get in the weight room and start training for next fall,” Fairfield defensive coordinator Tyler Miklo said.

In Class A, Pekin, Van Buren and Cardinal have all been placed into the same district once gain. These three schools were together in 1A District 6 three seasons ago. While Pekin and Van Buren experienced success in Class A the last two seasons, Cardinal remained in 1A, playing in one of the toughest districts in the state. Now the three schools have been reunited in Class A District 6.

“We hope that getting to play more local teams will help us get a few more kids out, and in turn create more competition for playing time and spots among our guys,” Cardinal coach Adam Hadenfeldt said. “It will be nice from a travelling standpoint for us as many of our away games will be pretty quick trips for us.”

Pekin will no longer have to contend with B-G-M (Brooklyn), which went to the State Championship game last fall. The Bears are now in Class A District 7.

For Van Buren there isn’t much of a change. Five of the teams were in the same district as the Warriors last season, plus Van Buren played Cardinal in an out of district game to open the year. Pekin and Van Buren shared the same district three seasons ago, so there isn’t a team the Warriors aren’t familiar with.